Sear-trigger safety mechanism for firearms

ABSTRACT

SAFETY MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS HAVING A TRIGGER AND SEAR COMBINATION IN WHICH THE TRIGGER HAS A PORTION ENGAGED IN A NOTCH OF THE SEAR WHEN THE TRIGGER IS IN ITS REST POSITION. THE TRIGGER AND SEAR ARE EACH PIVOTABLE FOR RELEASE OF THE TRIGGER FROM THE NOTCH OF THE SEAR AND INCLUDE SPACED OPPOSED PORTIONS MOVABLE TOWARD EACH OTHER ON SAID RELEASE OF THE TRIGGER. A SAFETY WHICH HAS A PORTION MOVABLE BETWEEN THE SPACED OPPOSED PORTIONS OF THE TRIGGER AND SEAR AND WHICH IS IN COMPRESSION THEREBETWEEN WHEN AN ATTEMPT IS MADE TO PULL THE TRIGGER.

I Sept; 28, 1971 c. B. HILDEBRAND'} 3,608,224

SEAR-TRIGGER SAFETY MECHANISM FOR FIREARMS Filed Dec. 19, 1969 En- 51.1-a4 INVENTOR.

CflRL B H/LDE BRANDT United States Patent 3,608,224 SEAR-TRIGGER SAFETYMECHANISM FOR FIREARMS Carl B. Hildebrandt, Springfield, Mass., assignorto Emhart Corporation, Bloomfield, Conn. Filed Dec. 19, 1969, Ser. No.886,716 Int. Cl. F41c 17/00, 17/08 U.S. Cl. 42--70C 6 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE Safety mechanism for firearms having a trigger and searcombination in which the trigger has a portion engaged in a notch of thesear when the trigger is in its rest position. The trigger and sear areeach pivotable for release of the trigger from the notch of the sear andinclude spaced opposed portions movable toward each other on saidrelease of the trigger. A safety which has a portion movable between thespaced opposed portions of the trigger and sear and which is incompression therebetween when an attempt is made to pull the trigger.

BACKGROUND Safety mechanism for guns are available in a wide variety oftypes. In general, such safety mechanisms include a block, lever or pinwhich is moved or swung into blocking engagement with the hammer, sear,trigger or bolt of the gun. All too frequently guns have been fired andpeople killed or wounded when the safety Was thought to be on. Analysisof many of these accidental firings has shown that in some cases thecritical portion of the safety had been broken or distorted as a resultof the gun being dropped or sustaining some other sharp impact when thesafety was on. Of course, if the operative portion of the safety isdamaged or broken, the safety is generall rendered inoperable orimperfectly operable. In many instances the end of a safety lever or pinhas been sheared off permitting inadvertent discharge of the gun, sinceusually such damage is not known to the operator.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a safety whichis simple in construction and operation while being most reliable andeffective in its operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety in which theoperative portion thereof is not subject to shear or bending forces whenin a safe position.

The above and other objects of this invention will be more readilyapparent from the following description and with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a portion of a gun partially insection showing a safety embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial elevational view showing the safety in FIG. 1 ingreater detail;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 with the safety in differentoperative relationship; and

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 1.

The gun comprises a trigger 8 pivotable about a pin 10. The triggerincludes a latch portion in the form of a tooth or shoulder 12 forwardof the pivot 10 for interlocking engagement with a notch 14 in sear 16.The sear 16 is mounted for pivotable movement about a pin 18 which islocated above the trigger pivot pin 10. The trigger and sear are eachprovided with recesses 20' and 22 to receive the outer ends of acompression spring 24 which urges toward counterclockwise rotation boththe trigger and sear. The spring serves as the trigger spring and toreturn the trigger and sear to their rest positions (FIG. 2) afterfiring.

The outer surface of shoulder 12 of the trigger is configured forsurface to surface engagement with the op- 'ice posed surface portion ofthe sear, so that when the trigger is pulled or rotated clockwise, thesear will be rotated counterclockwise through a small angle before theshoulder 12 of the trigger clears the sear notch.

Rearward of their respective pivot pins the trigger and sear eachinclude ledges 26 and 28 respectively, which are in spaced opposed,generally parallel relationship when the action is cocked, as shown inFIG. 2. When the trigger is pulled, the ledges move toward each otheruntil the shoulder 12 clears the sear notch 14. When released, the searis rotated clockwise by the movement of striker lug 29 moving forwardfor firing the gun. The bolt and striker mechanism may be of the samegeneral type as tlligsgosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,765,562, issued on Oct.9,

In accordance with this invention the safety comprises a lever 30pivotable about the pin 18 supported adjacent its outer ends by oppositeside wall portions of the housing member 32. The safety lever includesan actuating flange portion 34 by which the lever may be pivoted forwardand backward for placing its safety off and on respectively. Adjacentits lower end, this safety lever is connected to a rod 36.

As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the lever 30 has an aperture adjacentits lower end for receiving the outer end portion of the rod 36. In theembodiment shown, the outer end of the rod is provided with a hook 38 ofgenerally Ushaped configuration by which the lever is drivingly coupledto the rod. From the hook portion 38 the rod extends rearwardly andgenerally parallel to the path of movement of the safety lever 30 andthen transversely or laterally to the direction of movement of the lever30. The rod 36 is movable from a position in which it is interposedbetween the opposed ledges 26 and 28 of the sear 5 and trigger to aposition in which it is clear of the path of pivotal movement of thesear and trigger (FIG. 3).

The rod may be made of any suitable material of sufficient rigidity andstrength to serve as a safety without distortion or breaking. It hasbeen found that metal wire or rod stock, such as steel wire on the orderof A in diameter is suitable. The rod stock material selected may besomewhat softer than the steel of the sear and trigger so that in effectit cushions or absorbs any impact or shock transmitted from one to theother of these parts, thereby further minimizing the possibility ofbreakage or damage. It is important that the diameter of the rod or wirestock be sufficient to block any substantial pivotable movement of thesear or trigger, otherwise the trigger will be released from the searnotch. The diameter should also be such that it will be readilyaccommodated in the space between the two ledges 26 and 28.

When it is desired to place the safety on, the actuator 34 of lever 30is simply moved rearward. Since the lower end of the lever is coupled tosafety rod 36 by its hook portion 38, the transverse portion of the rodis carried into a blocking position between the rear ledge portions 26and 28 of the trigger and sear, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. In thisposition, any attempt to fire the gun by pulling the trigger is entirelyblocked, as is also movement of the sear. A simultaneous and mutualblocking of the sear and trigger is thereby achieved since as previouslymentioned, to release the sear, the trigger must move clockwise whilethe sear must move counterclockwise. Thus, with the safety on when afiring pull is exerted on the trigger, the transverse portion of the rodis squeezed or in compression between the ledge portions 26 and 28 ofthe trigger and sear respectively.

When it is desired to fire the gun, the actuator 34 of the safety leveris moved forward, whereby the lower end of the lever moves the safetyrod 36 rearwardly until it is clear of the path of rotation of thetrigger and sear.

Thereafter when the trigger is pulled, its sear engaging portion 12moves out of the sear notch 14 and the striker lug 29 under influence ofthe striker spring (not shown) pivots the sear clockwise, as shown indotted lines in FIG. 3, as the striker moves forwardly to fire the gun.The coil spring 24 then serves to return the trigger and sear to theirrest positions and operation of the bolt will again cock the gun asshown in FIG. 2.

Inasmuch as the safety rod is disposed between the opposed surfaces ofthe sear and trigger, which in the particular embodiment is on the orderof A in width, the likelihood of damage or breakage of the safety, orthe engaged portions of the firing mechanism from a sharp impact to thegun is for all practical purposes eliminated.

Having thus disclosed the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Safety mechanism for a gun having a striker releasably retained by asear and trigger combination, said trigger and sear being pivotable inopposite directions and each including spaced opposed surface portionspivotable toward each other for release of the sear on firing movementof said trigger, and a safety including a portion selectively movableinto and out of blocking relation between the opposed surface portionsof the sear and trigger, said safety when in blocking relationsimultaneously preventing firing movement of the trigger and sear.

2. Safety mechanism as set forth in claim 1 in which said safetycomprises a rod, which when in blocking engagement between the triggerand sear is in compression against firing movement of the combination ofthe trigger and sear.

3. Safety mechanism for a gun having a striker releasably retained by asear and trigger combination, said trigger including a shoulder and saidsear including a notch for releasably receiving the shoulder of thetrigger, said trigger and sear being pivotable in opposite directionsand each including spaced opposed surface portions pivotable toward eachother for release of the sear and said trigger,

and a safety including a portion selectively movable into and out ofblocking relation of said opposed surfaces of the sear and trigger, saidsafety when in its blocking relation simultaneously preventing movementof the trigger and sear whereby the shoulder is retained in the notch ofsaid sear.

4. Safety mechanism as set forth in claim 3 in which said safetyincludes a pivotable lever and a rod drivingly coupled to said lever,and a portion movable into and out of blocking relation between saidspaced opposed portions of the trigger and sear.

5. Safety mechanism as set forth in claim 3 in which the trigger andsear are pivotable at points, one generally above the other, saidshoulder of the trigger and the notch of the sear being disposed to oneside of said pivot points, said opposed surfaces being in the form ofledges disposed to the opposite side of said pivot points, the rod ofsaid safety including a portion movable into and out of blockingrelation between said ledges for simultaneously blocking pivotablemovement of the sear and trigger, and being in compression whenpreventing said gun from being fired when said gun is on safe.

6. Safety mechanism as set forth in claim 5 in which said safetycomprises a pivotable lever with a metal rod coupled to said lever andwith a transverse portion disposed for blocking movement of said searand trigger when the gun is on safe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,765,562 10/1956 Rober et al427OE 2,976,637 3/1961 Robinson, JR. 4270D 3,130,513 4/1964 Knode, JR.,42-70'E BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner C. T. JORDAN, AssistantExaminer

